Dorian Schmidt describes a series of practical exercises that can help us extend our ability to perceive the nature of living things. He gives a clear account of the methodology underlying this work, and describes several findings illustrative of observations in the realm of living forces. Scientists are currently bringing a whole series of new ideas to bear on our understanding of life. These range from very refined models based on neo-Darwinism through to Creationist ideas adhering closely to biblical texts. Within this broad spectrum, Intelligent Design (ID) occupies a religiously neutral middle position.

Dorian Schmidt’s approach likewise seeks insight into the nature of living things, and his theoretical explorations are certainly close to ID. However, his ideas are fundamentally different from all the above approaches in that they seek to reveal new facts by developing new capacities of perception, rather than resting on a classical model of scientific cognition.

The development and use of organs of perception that extend beyond the ordinary senses is however undertaken in a rigorously scientific mode, that is, in a conscious realm of critical reflection and thinking. In-depth scrutiny of the specific nature of critical thinking, in fact, is precisely what cultivates necessary progress in this domain. Thus we can broaden our perceptual capacities to encompass a hitherto generally unknown or unperceived level of living formative forces.

Dorian Schmidt was born in 1953 in Chemnitz and received his Abitur in Kassel. Having initially studied Biochemistry, he switched to a more practical-living relationship with nature: after training as a gardener and arborist in a nursery, he worked for many years as a gardener. Since 1993 he has been developing an methodological approach to the perception and cognition of life and formative forces. [When referring to this item please quote our ID 14864]